Scripture for Mass
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
Psalm: 24(23):1-2. 3-4b. 5-6. Response: cf. 6
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12a
‘God must love the common people – if not, why would he have made so many of us?’
Today’s Feast of All Saints is a cause for celebration by common people who strive to live out the Christian faith in our daily life amid the challenges and contradictions of the world. It reminds us that God is present in the humdrum of our lives and the messiness of our world, revealing his concern and care for us while drawing us ever closer to himself.
Jesus himself returned from the desert to live in mainstream society. As an itinerant preacher, he lived among the peasants and fishermen, the village people and townsfolk of Galilee. The stories that Jesus told and the stories that are told about him reveal a person who was deeply in tune with the frustrations and struggles, the hopes and the dreams of those around him. Moreover, those same stories emphasise that God’s reign of love and mercy, justice and peace gradually took root amid the humdrum and messiness of their lives and within the chaos and contradictions of the surrounding world.
Today’s feast is a celebration of all those nameless persons in Galilee and throughout the world, of all those forgotten people who lived during Jesus’s lifetime and throughout all of history, who welcomed the Good News of God’s unconditional love and mercy and tried to share it with those around them in their everyday lives – and who now enjoy the fulness of life and love, joy and peace in God’s presence.
Our remembrance of their lives and celebration of their glory give us confidence that God will guide and assist us on our own journey through this world until that day when we will be united with them in his presence.
Faithful God, grant us the grace to trust that you are by our side in every moment of our journey through this world.
May we remain attentive to your guidance amid the messiness of our lives and receptive to your help amid the chaos of the surrounding world.
Grant us the wisdom to live as missionary disciples of Jesus.
Teach us to how to encourage and support one another within the community of missionary disciples here on earth.
Through the intercession of our brothers and sisters in heaven, may we receive the patience and perseverance to continue our earthly pilgrimage until we are united with them in your presence.
We ask this through Jesus our Shepherd.
Amen.
Fr. Tim Mulroy
